1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to apparatus for controlling insects and small rodents and more particularly to an electronic apparatus for killing insects and other harmful small rodents by the use of random high-frequency sound.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Insects and small rodents are responsible for vast amounts of damage in the world. The damage can be small such that individual rose bushes and other ornamental house plants or their roots are literally eaten up by insects. Indeed, lawns and even entire trees have succumbed to such damage by insects. Or, the damage can be so vast as to ruin or effectively diminish a nation's food output, causing shortages, rising prices or even, in some instances, starvation of human beings.
Even buildings are subject to extensive damage by such insects as termites.
Then too, animals and human beings are directly and adversely affected by insects. The damage can merely be inconvenience caused by insect bites such as mosquitos, flies, spiders, gnats, fleas, ants, scorpions, bees, wasps and the like. The list of such insect bites is almost limitless. The damage caused by such bites is not limited to mere inconvenience or annoyance as is the more common case. That malaria is transmitted to man by the bite of the anopheles mosquito is well documented as is the fact that such bites resulted in large numbers of deaths of human being during jungle fighting in World War II and the building of the Panama Canal.
Consider also the deaths of children who are allergic and whose deaths are caused by bites of insects and stings of bees. In such cases, the insect bites which would otherwise be a minor irritant to most persons are directly responsible for these deaths.
Secondary and equally devasting effects of insect bites are often the main cause of communicable or infectious diseases which have been known to kill, maim and otherwise injure vast populations of human beings and animals.
The full extent of the damage caused by insects has not and will probably never be completely measured and will never be fully understood or appreciated. The latter point is meant to be directed to phenomena such as lethal yellowing which has caused almost the complete destruction of various species of palm trees in the state of Florida, or the well-known disease of corn blight. Although it is not known for certain, it is highly suspected that insects may be responsible for the transmission of such diseases from tree to tree or plant to plant. Indeed, it is even possible that the diseases themselves may be caused by a form of life which may be broadly classified as an insect.
Modern medicine has fortunately minimized the effects of various insect bites and has served to stem or even stop the resulting diseases from being communicated or otherwise transmitted. But, modern medicine is merely attacking the symptom rather than eliminating the root cause of such diseases.
Combating insects has taken on varied forms, each with its own measure of success and secondary effects which in and of themselves are often harmful. One of the more crude forms of control include the ordinary and ubiquitous fly swatter. Its use is so wide spread that virtually no home is without one. In fact, they are often provided in each motel room with the name of the motel imprinted thereon so that when they are "taken as souvenirs", a certain degree of advertising is obtained. However, once a fly swatter is used, consider the result. The insect is killed, but the remains of the insect that are left partially on the fly swatter and partially at the location of the kill, such as the wall, desk, kitchen counter, dining room table, etc. Such a result is neither appetizing nor sanitary.
Some of the more sophisticated devices in use today include an electronic device which attracts insects and then proceeds to electrocute them. However, can it be said that this device rids the immediate area of insects or does it cause the attraction of insects to the immediate area?
Perhaps the most widely used method of control of insects today includes toxic chemicals. The advantages of such chemicals are readily apparent in that large areas may be quickly and effeciently sprayed by planes, truck-mounted sprayers and even by boats equpped with sprayers. Also, most of the chemicals are quite effective in killing the various insects. Unfortunately, the chemicals are known to kill such beneficial animals or fish and fowl. And, there is growing evidence that these chemicals are responsible for shortening the lives of human beings by causing cancer in human beings either by direct contact or by indirect contact. With indirect contact, such chemicals eventually find their way into the human body by first being absorbed in the soil or growing media of plant life, which is eaten by humans, or into fish, fowl, cattle, pigs, lamb, etc., which are included within a human's diet. In this regard, a draft report of a new government study indicates that fourteen percent (14%) of the dressed meat and poultry sold in supermarkets might illegally contain residues of chemicals suspected of causing cancer, birth defects or other toxic effects. Direct contact usually exposes the human respiratory system to the chemicals by breathing the air saturated with the chemicals.
In summary, there are methods of controlling insects, but the adverse effects of such methods or devices often outweigh their advantages. The recent ban of the use of the chemical known as DDT is one such example.
For some time now, it has been suspected and to some degree known, that all forms of animal life, including insects and small rodents, communicate by sound. Most often the communication is by ultrasonic sound which is imperceptible to the human auditory sense. This communication is directly related to reproduction cycles, including mating and protection of the newborn, eating, sleeping, protecting boundries, avoiding enemies, finding food and enemies, and the like. Thus, ultrasonic communication by insects is not unlike the dependence of such communication by humans in order to propagate and preserve the species. The extent of such insect communication and their life dependence thereon is authoritatively shown in Ultrasonic Communication by Animals by Gillian Sales and David Pye, Chapman and Hall Ltd, 1974, Library of Congress Catalog Number 73-15213.
Since communication is essential to life functions and habits of insects, it follows that the disruption of this communication is detrimental to the same life functions and habits. Recent studies and research carried out by the University of Southern California at Berkeley have shown that the life cycles of insects can be adversely affected by disrupting their communications with ultrasonic sound. Apparently, the insects cannot then communicate and such ultrasonic sound creates a confusion to the extent that even the eating and sleeping habits of the insects are disrupted. Such ultrasonic sound ultimately results in the death of the insects. Studies at other universities have substantiated these effects. A more recent study at the University of Miami, as reported in the Miami Herald newspaper on or about Jan. 20, 1979, reaches the same conclusion as the studies at Berkeley.
The invention herein utilizes ultrasonic sound to kill insects and such effect has been demonstrated during prototype testing of the inventive apparatus.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to effectively and efficiently kill insects and small rodents within a given and controllable range.
Another object of the invention is to eliminate any harmful effects on human beings.
A further object of the invention is to eliminate any harmful effects on either ornamental plants or plants subsequently eaten by human beings.
A still further object of the invention is to prevent harm to domestic animals or animals whose flesh forms part of the diet of human beings.
An even further object of the invention is to prevent harm to the environment during or subsequent to its primary purpose of killing insects or small rodents.